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Lt. Emily Núñez Cavness serves in the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in Colorado. “So many people come up with wonderful and inspiring ideas, only to leave them as just that — ideas. The most important step is tak- ing the first step, no matter how small it may be,” Núñez Cavness says. The spark: At an entrepreneur symposium, Núñez Cavness saw “every student had a backpack or bag of some kind propped up next to them. And then it clicked! ‘Why don’t I take rugged, durable military surplus that would otherwise be dis- carded and turn it into fashionable

bags that could appeal to people like my classmates?’” Business mission: Sword &#38; Plough works with U.S. manufac- turers who employ veterans. The company recycles military surplus fabric, incorporates it into stylish bag designs (sold online at www .swordandplough.com), and donates 10 percent of its profits to veterans’ organizations. Achieving success: “When we

first launched, the Sword &#38; Plough team was spread across four differ- ent states and three time zones. Our biggest challenge occurred just three weeks after our Kickstarter campaign

ended in May of 2013: Our goal was to raise $20,000 over the course of 30 days to raise enough funds for our first large production run,” Núñez Cavness says. “We ended up reaching that goal in just two hours! And we ended the campaign with over 1,500 pre-orders and over $312,000. Three weeks later, I deployed to Afghani- stan for seven months and our team had to very quickly develop a long- term supply chain.”

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— Heidi Lynn Russell is a freelance writer from Kentucky. Her last feature article for Military Officer was “Helping Kids Cope,” April 2015.